Supercritical fluid extraction for pesticide multiresidue analysis in honey: determination by gas chromatography with electron-capture and mass spectrometry detection

An analytical procedure using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and capillary gas chromatography with electron-capture detection was developed to determine simultaneously residues of different pesticides (organochlorine, organophosphorus, organonitrogen and pyrethroid) in honey samples. Fortification experiments were conducted to test conventional extraction (liquid–liquid) and optimize the extraction procedure in SFE by varying the CO2-modifier, temperature, extraction time and pressure. Best efficiency was achieved at 400 bar using acetonitrile as modifier at 90 °C. For the clean-up step, Florisil cartridges were used for both methods LLE and SFE. Recoveries for majority of pesticides from fortified samples of honey at fortification level of 0.01–0.10 mg/kg ranged 75–94% from both methods. Limits of detection found were less than 0.01 mg/kg for ECD and confirmation of pesticide identity was performed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in selected-ion monitoring mode. The multiresidue methods in real honey samples were applied and the results of developed methods were compared.